Obama: ‘Even in Our Grief We Will Be Resolute’

President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton walk back to their seats after speaking during the Transfer of Remains Ceremony, Friday, Sept. 14, 2012, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., marking the return to the United States of the remains of the four Americans killed this week in Benghazi, Libya. Behind them at right is one of the flag draped transfer cases of the remains of the four Americans killed this week in Benghazi, Libya. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

(CNSNews.com) –During a ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base in Md., to receive the remains of the four Americans killed Libya, President Barack Obama said Friday that “even in our grief, we will be resolute.”

“Most of all, even in our grief, we will be resolute for we are Americans, and we hold our head high, knowing that because of these patriots, because of you, this country that we love will always shine as a light onto the world,” Obama added.

Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods, and Glen Doherty were killed in the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on Tuesday.

“I think of the man in Benghazi with his sign in English – a message he wanted all of us to hear. It said: ‘Chris Stevens was a friend to all Libyans. Chris Stevens was a friend.’ That’s the message these four patriots sent,” the president said.

“That’s the message that each of you sends everyday – civilians, military, to people in every corner of the world – that America’s a friend, and we care not only about our own country, not just about our own interests, but about theirs – that even as voices of suspicion and mistrust seek to divide countries and cultures from one another, the United States of America will never retreat from the world,” Obama said.

“We will never stop working for the dignity and freedom that every person deserves, whatever their creed, whatever their faith. That’s the essence of American leadership. That’s the spirit that sets us apart from other nations. This was their work in Benghazi, and this is the work we will carry on,” he added.

“In the days since the attack, so many Libyans, including the ambassador to the United States, who is with us today, have expressed their sorrow and solidarity,” said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“One young woman – her head covered and her eyes haunted with sadness – held up a handwritten sign that said: ‘Thugs and killers don’t represent Benghazi nor Islam,’” Clinton said.

“The president of the Palestinian Authority, who worked closely with Chris when he served in Jerusalem, sent me a letter remembering his energy and integrity and deploring, and I quote ‘an act of ugly terror.’ Many others from across the Middle East and North Africa have offered similar sentiments,” she said.

“This has been a difficult week for the State Department and for our country. We’ve seen the heavy assault on our post in Benghazi that took the lives of those brave men. We’ve seen rage and violence directed at American embassies over an awful Internet video that we had nothing to do with,” Clinton said.

“It is hard for the American people to make sense of that because it is senseless, and it is totally unacceptable,” she said. “The people of Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and Tunisia did not trade the tyranny of a dictator for the tyranny of a mob.

“Reasonable people and responsible leaders in these countries need to do everything they can to restore security and hold accountable those behind these violent acts, and we will – under the president’s leadership – keep taking steps to protect our personnel around the world,” Clinton added.

The president pledged that the sacrifices of those killed will “never be forgotten” and the U.S. “will bring to justice those who took them from us.”

“We will stand fast against the violence on our diplomatic missions. We will continue to do everything in our power to protect Americans serving overseas, whether that means increasing security at our diplomatic posts, working with host countries which have an obligation to provide security, and making it clear that justice will come to those who harm Americans,” he said.

“Most of all, even in our grief, we will be resolute for we are Americans, and we hold our head high, knowing that because of these patriots, because of you, this country that we love will always shine as a light onto the world,” Obama added.